Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Way From Slump
Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds endured a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the champions’ slump.
Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th loss in 11 matches in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s first goal should have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against Manchester City before the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.
“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.
“I wish to stress I am accountable for the present losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can not provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”
The team's display fell apart as the coach made multiple offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted the French defender off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s likely stupid.”
Liverpool last lost two successive home league games by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal margin was in 1965.
The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the initial half-hour perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen at City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling team and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we concede go in.”